Please use this space to list the various ways and/or link to resources demonstrating how libraries can recruit teen volunteers.

Please use this space to list the various ways and/or link to resources demonstrating how libraries can recruit teen volunteers.

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==Activities, Projects, etc. for Teen Volunteers==

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Please use this space to list the various ways and/or link to resources relating to how teens can volunteer their time and talents for their library.

==Success Stories==

==Success Stories==

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*<b>SAMPLE</b>: the XYZ Library in XYZ town, XYZ state is hosting a DIY Fair on 7/27/09. Teens can come and learn how to sew a book bag, construct a book shelf, knit a scarf, tye dye curtains, create beaded jewlery, make recycled paper and more. Staff from local businesses are volunteering to help teens with their DIY projects and are also donating supplies. We did this last summer with much success, so we decided to repeat it again this year. Go to XYZ.com for more information.

*<b>SAMPLE</b>: the XYZ Library in XYZ town, XYZ state is hosting a DIY Fair on 7/27/09. Teens can come and learn how to sew a book bag, construct a book shelf, knit a scarf, tye dye curtains, create beaded jewlery, make recycled paper and more. Staff from local businesses are volunteering to help teens with their DIY projects and are also donating supplies. We did this last summer with much success, so we decided to repeat it again this year. Go to XYZ.com for more information.

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*The Foothills Branch Library in Glendale, AZ has 65 teen volunteers who have saved us this summer. They run our summer reading program for teens and children--signing up patrons and handing out prizes. They sign up patrons for computer time and assist with computer help. They assist in our youth programs including the week of July 27th's programs: Craftmania, WOW Wednesday performance, and Munch with a Movie. They are also recording the voices for our puppet show in August. Besides all of this, we have lost many page positions, so our teen volunteers also shelve bookcarts, pull holds, and check in materials! Next week we also start scheduling for our fall season of volunteers which includes Book Buddies as well as ongoing volunteering.--Kristin Fletcher-Spear, Teen Librarian II and teen volunteer coordinator.

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*The Oak Park Public Library in Oak Park, IL has had a teen focused volunteer program available since 2008 to build their skills, engage their talents, and allow them to give back to their community. Eight separate volunteer teams (more than 75 teens) meet weekly throughout the summer and engage in special projects, from marketing books, making promotional videos, creating a mural for the young adult space at the Main Library, creating inter-generational relationships with seniors in the community, and generally organizing and helping at the Main Library and the Maze Branch. This summer (2011) we hope to add smartphone application design and reader's theater to our successful slate of volunteer opportunities.

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*The Foothills Branch Library in Glendale, AZ has 65 teen volunteers who have saved us this summer. They run our summer reading program for teens and children--signing up patrons and handing out prizes. They sign up patrons for computer time and assist with computer help. They assist in our youth programs including the week of July 27th's programs: Craftmania, WOW Wednesday performance, and Munch with a Movie. They are also recording the voices for our puppet show in August. Besides all of this, we have lost many page positions, so our teen volunteers also shelve bookcarts, pull holds, and check in materials! Next week we also start scheduling for our fall season of volunteers which includes Book Buddies as well as ongoing volunteering.--Kristin Fletcher-Spear, Teen Librarian II and teen volunteer coordinator.

*The Richland Public Library is doing a Youtube workshop Saturday, Aug 1st. It will cover the basics from creating an account to making and uploading DIY movies, etc. There will be three teen volunteers assisting with set up, activity help, snacks, attendance gifts, evaluation forms, clean up, and as needed. The end of the workshop will involve making a movie with the whole class to show at our end of the summer party - Gavin Lightfoot, YA Librarian.

*The Richland Public Library is doing a Youtube workshop Saturday, Aug 1st. It will cover the basics from creating an account to making and uploading DIY movies, etc. There will be three teen volunteers assisting with set up, activity help, snacks, attendance gifts, evaluation forms, clean up, and as needed. The end of the workshop will involve making a movie with the whole class to show at our end of the summer party - Gavin Lightfoot, YA Librarian.

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* The Campbell County Public Library really depends on our teen volunteers. This week volunteers will pick up recycle, shred, help with end of the summer picnic for younger children, set up the gaming for Wii Wednesday in the teen room, help do crafts with pre-school age children at the library booth at the Fair two days, clean children's gaming Cd's, toys, Board books, sticker grant books and stamp and scan discarded books, shelf check (get garbage out of books and check that the books are in order), they adopt a section like SF or 600's, read out loud at our local Children's Center (across the street). We have about 25 teens who work at least two hours a week.

* The Campbell County Public Library really depends on our teen volunteers. This week volunteers will pick up recycle, shred, help with end of the summer picnic for younger children, set up the gaming for Wii Wednesday in the teen room, help do crafts with pre-school age children at the library booth at the Fair two days, clean children's gaming Cd's, toys, Board books, sticker grant books and stamp and scan discarded books, shelf check (get garbage out of books and check that the books are in order), they adopt a section like SF or 600's, read out loud at our local Children's Center (across the street). We have about 25 teens who work at least two hours a week.

Sue Knesel, Youth Services Librarian - ccpls.org

Sue Knesel, Youth Services Librarian - ccpls.org

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*'''The Ocean County Library''' based in Toms River, NJ has 2 very active Teen Volunteer Programs every summer in almost every one of our 21 locations. '''S.A.I.L. - Service and Achievement in the Library''' is open to teens that have completed the 7th grade and through high school. This program provides real work experience for teens. Teens get a S.A.I.L. T-Shirt and help out with children's programs, computer projects, displays, storytimes, crafts, collections work and much more! Every summer we have over nearly 700 teens participate and over 11,000 hours of service. Our '''Reading Buddies''' Program pairs a Teen Buddy with a Kid Buddy to share a love of reading over the summer. Buddies read back and forth to each other over the summer. Teens become "reading role models" for their kid buddies. The Reading Buddies Program has about 600 teen and kid buddy participants every summer. Judy Macaluso - Teen Services Coordinator [http://www.theoceancountylibrary.org]

==Serving Sick & Homebound Teens==

==Serving Sick & Homebound Teens==

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As an activity, have members of your Teen Advisory Board make and design greeting cards, crafts and decorations like duct tape wallets, duct tape flowers, or picture frames and bring them to a local children's hospital.

As an activity, have members of your Teen Advisory Board make and design greeting cards, crafts and decorations like duct tape wallets, duct tape flowers, or picture frames and bring them to a local children's hospital.

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Help a local children's hospital create or update their lending library by holding a book drive for new or gently used YA books and donating them.

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Help a local children's hospital create or update their lending library by holding a book drive for new or gently used YA books and donating them

Provide the hospital or sick and homebound teens with WMA and MP3 players on which teens can download books from NetLibrary, Overdrive, and other sources.

Provide the hospital or sick and homebound teens with WMA and MP3 players on which teens can download books from NetLibrary, Overdrive, and other sources.

Work with your library director to facilitate the pick up and delivery of materials and/or assistive devices to sick and homebound teens. This could be facilitated by the library's Friends group, or possibly by the library's Teen Advisory Group. Also consider a lenient overdue policy, or an extended loan period.

Work with your library director to facilitate the pick up and delivery of materials and/or assistive devices to sick and homebound teens. This could be facilitated by the library's Friends group, or possibly by the library's Teen Advisory Group. Also consider a lenient overdue policy, or an extended loan period.

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== Earth Day ==

== Earth Day ==

Revision as of 12:55, 24 March 2014

Contents

When President Barack Obama was inaugurated, he called for Americans of all ages to engage in community service, particularly volunteering or changing your lifestyle for the greater good. Use this space to tell us about volunteer projects that your library has sponsored or initiated, programs you've offered to help teens help others or improve the world around them, or get ideas to put community service plans into action.

Tips for Recruiting Teen Volunteers

Please use this space to list the various ways and/or link to resources demonstrating how libraries can recruit teen volunteers.

Success Stories

Have you incorporated volunteers into your teen library program? If so, please use this space to share best practices and success stories.

SAMPLE: the XYZ Library in XYZ town, XYZ state is hosting a DIY Fair on 7/27/09. Teens can come and learn how to sew a book bag, construct a book shelf, knit a scarf, tye dye curtains, create beaded jewlery, make recycled paper and more. Staff from local businesses are volunteering to help teens with their DIY projects and are also donating supplies. We did this last summer with much success, so we decided to repeat it again this year. Go to XYZ.com for more information.

The Oak Park Public Library in Oak Park, IL has had a teen focused volunteer program available since 2008 to build their skills, engage their talents, and allow them to give back to their community. Eight separate volunteer teams (more than 75 teens) meet weekly throughout the summer and engage in special projects, from marketing books, making promotional videos, creating a mural for the young adult space at the Main Library, creating inter-generational relationships with seniors in the community, and generally organizing and helping at the Main Library and the Maze Branch. This summer (2011) we hope to add smartphone application design and reader's theater to our successful slate of volunteer opportunities.

The Foothills Branch Library in Glendale, AZ has 65 teen volunteers who have saved us this summer. They run our summer reading program for teens and children--signing up patrons and handing out prizes. They sign up patrons for computer time and assist with computer help. They assist in our youth programs including the week of July 27th's programs: Craftmania, WOW Wednesday performance, and Munch with a Movie. They are also recording the voices for our puppet show in August. Besides all of this, we have lost many page positions, so our teen volunteers also shelve bookcarts, pull holds, and check in materials! Next week we also start scheduling for our fall season of volunteers which includes Book Buddies as well as ongoing volunteering.--Kristin Fletcher-Spear, Teen Librarian II and teen volunteer coordinator.

The Richland Public Library is doing a Youtube workshop Saturday, Aug 1st. It will cover the basics from creating an account to making and uploading DIY movies, etc. There will be three teen volunteers assisting with set up, activity help, snacks, attendance gifts, evaluation forms, clean up, and as needed. The end of the workshop will involve making a movie with the whole class to show at our end of the summer party - Gavin Lightfoot, YA Librarian.

The East Greenbush Community Library is having an "All Boxed Up!" craft program as a part of our Family Fun Nights series. Families will come in for some stories and then have fun creating a world of their own using boxes of all sizes! This program will have four Super Uber VolunTeens (SUVs are SRP VolunTeens who have had at least 2 years of previous experience). SUVs assist with program set up, help during the activity, and clean up after the program. Check out our kid's SRP page [1] for a downloadable pdf of all events. -Chrissie Morrison, Tween & Teen Librarian, VolunTeen Coordinator.

We have 80 Teen Volunteers this summer. They have signed over 2,100 children up for our "Be Creative" program, showed them how to play the weekly games when they come back in each week and registered almost 900 teens in the "Express Yourself" program. They have also shelved and shelf read and straightened our Imagination Station all summer. The big event for the week of July 27th, which is not so much FOR our teens but COULDN'T BE DONE WITHOUT THEM, is our End-of-Summer-Reading-Program Party for the children who have met their reading goal and their families. It will be from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday the 30th and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday the 31st. Our volunteers will be making cotton candy, handing out hot dogs, dressing up in "critter" costumes, manning craft tables and games, painting faces and helping make balloon animals. We usually have over 1,500 people attend the party between both days. We'll have a Teen Volunteer appreciation celebration some time in August as a way to say "thank you" and to give them their service hour certificates. Our summer is successful because of our Teen Volunteers. I don't know how we'd do it without them. submitted by Kristi Hansen, Youth Services Coordinator, Salina Public Library, Salina, KS

The Rancho Penasquitos Library in the San Diego Public Library system will have a Henna Party for teens on July 27th from 6-8pm. A henna artist will be present, and there will be Wii games, board games, and snacks. Teen volunteers will assist in all aspects. Thursday, July 30, we will have Wii Get Crafty from 4-5pm. Teens will play Wii and board games, eat snacks, and make a craft. Teen volunteers run the entire program. Friday, July 31st from 4-5 we have Picturing America crafts for teens, based on the National Endowment for the Humanities grant. Teen volunteers assist. I have about 60 teen volunteers this summer, running sign-ups and prize distribution for the summer reading program, helping with programs, book shelving,tutoring, crafts, and many other things. The library could not run without them. Submitted by Leslie McNabb, Youth Services Librarian Rancho Penasquitos Library

Teen volunteers are such a large part of the summer reading program for both teens and children that we couldn't do it without them here at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, ME. For the week of July 27, we have four programs (weekly all summer) by and for teens: Monday at the Movies, AniMaine Club on Otaku Tuesdays, Gaming Afternoon on Wednesdays, and a D*I*Y craft program on Fridays. Volunteers help set up, cleanup, and assist with the program. Additional volunteer activities and input include: based on surveys, teens chose which 80's film we watch each week; on Tuesday, two high school seniors will be presenting a digital slide show and mini Japanese lesson on their recent trip to Japan; the gaming afternoon is completely run by teens (I just sit back and sing in Rock Band :-)); and the Friday craft is promoted in house with samples made by teens. Hours spent volunteering go towards time earned for summer reading prizes. Those teens who like to work with younger children can also volunteer to hand out prizes to the Be Creative (Pre-K - grade 5)participants. Melissa Orth, Teen Librarian, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, ME.

The Joplin Public Library in Joplin, MO has used volunteers (3 teens and 1 college student) all summer long. With only a single Teen Department staff member, the Teen Summer Reading Club activities would not happen without these 4 ladies. On July 28th, we'll have our first ever Guitar Hero Tournament. Registration was required so that we can make our tournament brackets (this is the only one of our 9 SRC activities that required registration). For this program, like the past 8, the Teen Department volunteers help the Teen Librarian set up the meeting room for the program, set up snacks and drinks, and choose which prizes will be given away during our weekly prize drawings. The volunteers also help during the activities. Specifically for the Guitar Hero tournament, the volunteers will help monitor each PS2 competition station and help report winners so that the tournament will run as smoothly and quickly as possible. Volunteers are also responsible for helping clean up after each activity. Submitted by Cari Rerat, Teen Librarian, Joplin Public Library, Joplin, MO.

The Encinitas branch of the San Diego County Library will be celebrating its Teen Summer Reading Club Grand Finale on 7/27/09, featuring video gaming, pizza, prize drawings, and ever-popular airbrush tattoos. Four volunteers from the National Charity League will be at this event, to help set up and take down equipment, serve food, and assist with the prize drawings. We are extremely thankful to the NCL, whose team of dedicated teen volunteers has provided invaluable assistance to us throughout this summer’s programming, helping to make this our most successful Teen Summer Reading Club yet. - Josh Mitchell, Youth Services Librarian, Encinitas Community Library

The Fallbrook branch of the San Diego County Library system has been having great success with their teen programs this summer. Every Tuesday, two teen volunteers (service learners) meet with the presenter to help them setup and teardown and to assist during the program. On 7/28/09 teens will be making Asian brush drawings. In addition to helping with teen programs, I have many other teen volunteers that help with the children's art programs, supervising Wii Games, and covering the SRP table to sign kids up and hand out prizes. Many of the teens have a vested interest in helping the library and we couldn't do it without them!! - Amanda Heller, Youth Services Librarian, Fallbrook Branch Library

The Campbell County Public Library really depends on our teen volunteers. This week volunteers will pick up recycle, shred, help with end of the summer picnic for younger children, set up the gaming for Wii Wednesday in the teen room, help do crafts with pre-school age children at the library booth at the Fair two days, clean children's gaming Cd's, toys, Board books, sticker grant books and stamp and scan discarded books, shelf check (get garbage out of books and check that the books are in order), they adopt a section like SF or 600's, read out loud at our local Children's Center (across the street). We have about 25 teens who work at least two hours a week.

Sue Knesel, Youth Services Librarian - ccpls.org

The Ocean County Library based in Toms River, NJ has 2 very active Teen Volunteer Programs every summer in almost every one of our 21 locations. S.A.I.L. - Service and Achievement in the Library is open to teens that have completed the 7th grade and through high school. This program provides real work experience for teens. Teens get a S.A.I.L. T-Shirt and help out with children's programs, computer projects, displays, storytimes, crafts, collections work and much more! Every summer we have over nearly 700 teens participate and over 11,000 hours of service. Our Reading Buddies Program pairs a Teen Buddy with a Kid Buddy to share a love of reading over the summer. Buddies read back and forth to each other over the summer. Teens become "reading role models" for their kid buddies. The Reading Buddies Program has about 600 teen and kid buddy participants every summer. Judy Macaluso - Teen Services Coordinator [2]

Serving Sick & Homebound Teens

As an activity, have members of your Teen Advisory Board make and design greeting cards, crafts and decorations like duct tape wallets, duct tape flowers, or picture frames and bring them to a local children's hospital.

Help a local children's hospital create or update their lending library by holding a book drive for new or gently used YA books and donating them

Provide the hospital or sick and homebound teens with WMA and MP3 players on which teens can download books from NetLibrary, Overdrive, and other sources.

Work with your library director to facilitate the pick up and delivery of materials and/or assistive devices to sick and homebound teens. This could be facilitated by the library's Friends group, or possibly by the library's Teen Advisory Group. Also consider a lenient overdue policy, or an extended loan period.

Earth Day

Earth Day was founded in 1970 as an opportunity to appreciate the environment and to discuss ways to ensure that it remained healthy. Here are a few resources that you can use to help your teens appreciate the world around them or to help take care of the natural resources in their communities

The Change Your World booklist, drawn from nominations for the 2010 Popular Paperbacks, offers titles that encourage teens to stand up for things they believe in, with books that focus on politics, activism and more.

Earth Day Network offers volunteer opportunities and more information on getting involved in environmental issues.

Program Ideas

Geocaching Puyallap Public Library in Puyallup, Washington, worked with the Washington State Geocaching Association (WSGA) to develop a program introducing teens to geocaching. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt, in which teams or individuals use GPS devices to find hidden containers. WSGA will teach teens about the equipment and training they need to particpate, then will spend an hour hiking through Puyallup's Pioneer Park, locating geocaches that have been hidden by WSGA volunteers.

Community Clean-Up Day At Lambton County Library in Lambton, Ontario, Canada, teens participate in a community clean up day, working with the horticultural society to clean community green space and flower beds. Teens mostly pick up trash, competing to see who can collect the most trash with a food prize for the team that can collect the most. Two years ago, a man in a utility truckfrom the local hydro-electric plant noticed teens from the library at work and asked if this was an Earth Day project. When the participants confirmed it was, he gave the library a huge box of compact fluorescent light bulbs, and each teen received two as a prize.

Recycled Jewelry Teens at Chester Public Library in Orange County, N.Y., will take old magazines and turn them into one-of-a-kind beaded jewelry in honor of Earth Day. A local artist volunteered to show teen participants how to turn gently used magazines into rolled paper beads, inspired by Egyptian papyrus beads.